Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Ho Chan Nam announced yesterday the arrest of three locals in a fraud case in which the trio in cahoots with a number of gamblers allegedly cheated a casino out of gifts worth about HK$279,000 by forging “privilege points” on their membership cards.
During yesterday’s special press conference, Ho said that the Judiciary Police received a report from a casino representative about the fraud on November 30 last year.
A PJ investigation showed, according to Ho, that Cheong, a 51-year-old man previously working as a supervisor in the casino, was using his position to tamper with the casino’s computer while he was on duty, altering on at least 104 occasions his accomplices’ gambling details, such as the average amount of money wagered and the length of time bets were placed, to increase the privilege points on their membership cards, which were then redeemed for gifts, such as ferry tickets, catering vouchers, promotional casino chips, cash rebates, and hotel guestrooms.
The Judiciary Police, Ho said, identified two of Cheong’s accomplices as a local couple – a 58-year-old woman surnamed Cheung and a 59-year-old man surnamed Chan – from the same hometown in the mainland as Cheong. PJ officers arrested the trio separately at their homes in the northern district and Taipa on Wednesday, and recovered HK$10,000 in cash, 16 bottles of wine, expensive spirits and grain-based liquor, as well as seven thermos flasks, four boxes of beauty and cosmetic products, an expensive hair dryer and three suitcases suspected of being redeemed with the bogus privilege points, involving HK$30,350.
According to the spokesman, the trio refused to cooperate with the police, such as revealing the details of how they split the stolen cash and goods among them. The Judiciary Police believe that there were at least other two suspects involved in the case and were still looking for them at the time of the press conference.
The trio were transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) yesterday, facing charges of fraud involving a considerably large amount of money.
Evidence seized from the three local fraud suspects such as bottles of liquor, suitcases, a hairdryer, thermos flasks and banknotes is displayed during yesterday’s special press conference at the Judiciary Police (PJ) headquarters in Zape.
– Photo: Yuki Lei
